[center][color=slategray][img]https://i.imgur.com/kLIYb4r.png[/img][/color][/center]

[color=slategray]"Hey!"[/color] Cassius shouted as he stood. [color=slategray]"You! Uh, Clara?"[/color]

[color=red]"That is my name..."[/color] She responded somewhat impatiently.

[color=slategray]"What happened to Kath?! What..."[/color] He looked around and saw the extent of the damage. The area was soaked for some reason, but then the nearby tree was in cinders. Also part of the park had just been completely torn up. [color=slategray]"What happened here? What did you do?!"[/color]

[color=red]"Well... let's see..."[/color] She turned to him and took a few steps closer. [color=red]"[i]I[/i] did nothing. That said, it would seem her sister's boyfriend fought her and nearly killed her before another student from our school absconded with her... Thobias I believe."[/color] She told him. [color=red]"Does that explanation suffice?"[/color]

[color=slategray]"Wh-what?! K-k-k- B-but you said almost. Sh-she's alive?"[/color] He suddenly felt a bit shaky.

[color=red]"Last I knew. Though if I recall, none of Thobias's abilities are medical in nature, and that's assuming his intent was even to help her. With how she was bleeding I can't say how long she'll last,"[/color] Clara said.

[color=slategray]"Uh... umm..."[/color] Cassius whole body buzzed as waves of sickening stress and worry flooded through him. Thobias... why was that name familiar? He felt Katherine might have complained about him once or twice, but she never really wanted to go into detail about him.

That didn't make him feel better.

If he was a Mephisto and Kath didn't like him, didn't that just make him another enemy!? ANd why had Rurik attacked her? She'd already been so badly hurt! He was dating her sister, dammit! If anything happened to Kath...

[color=slategray]"Where did they go!?"[/color]

[color=red]"I couldn't say."[/color]

[color=slategray]"WELL WHICH WAY THEN!?"[/color]

[color=red]"Thobias is a teleporter. I really couldn't say,"[/color] Clara didn't so much as flinch as he shouted.

[color=slategray]"W-well... but... why are you even telling me anything?"[/color] Cassius's shoulders sagged in defeat.

[color=red]"Because..."[/color] Clara stepped closer to him. [color=red]"I figure we're in a similar situation now. Unable to take another move. What harm is there?"[/color]

[color=slategray]"Oh..."[/color] Had... they not been working together then? Clara and the others? It wouldn't surprise him. They were a whole lot of backstabbers... right? But then again back at the hotel they'd all worked together to fight the demon. Convenience he supposed. Allies one minute, enemies the next when being friendly no longer suited them. [color=slategray]"Thanks... I guess."[/color]

[color=red]"Hmm..."[/color] Clara tilted her head. [color=red]"You are welcome I suppose. I appreciate your cordiality. St. Laurels acts like a shining beacon of perfection, but so few of you actually live up to that in the end. It's disappointing in a way. It's almost nice to see someone act the part."[/color]

[color=slategray]"Errr..."[/color] Cassius had no idea how to react to that.

[color=red]"Well, if you ever find them as disappointing as I do... we always welcome those with power and ambition. You have both, don't you... what was it... Cassius?"[/color]

[color=slategray]"Just because I'm being polite doesn't mean I'd ever want to join your school."[/color] Cassius narrowed his eyes.

[color=red]"Ah, and so more disappointment."[/color] Clara shrugged. [color=red]"Farewell, Cassius. And do try to keep your cool. Simply accept that there is nothing you can do and steel yourself for the future. You [i]were[/i] polite, so you've earned a morsel of advice."[/color] And with that she began walking away. Once she was clear of witnesses she'd make her move back toward the arena. 

[i]Something[/i] was happening there.

[center][h2]The Arena[/h2][/center]
[center][@Gentlemanvaultboy][@RoflsMazoy][@Crazy Scion][@rawkhawk64][@Hammerman][/center]

The hail of bullets slammed into him, but they seemed to bounce off of his magic warding, barely doing more than stinging him. Still, he must have felt it. He flinched, that brief moment saving Alto's life in the end. Nanaca landed on him with meteoric force, dropping the man to a knee. Even still under the withering barrage of bullets, however, he slowly began to rise.

However, his arms seemed to be hanging limply at his sides. It seemed Nanaca had dislocated both his shoulders in one go. His fingers twitched as he fought to ball his hands into fists.

These... these... [i]children.[/i] These damnable children were hurting him? [i][b]Him?[/b][/i] His lords chosen? The one who stood at the top?

It seemed they'd done something admirable. They'd completely and utterly shattered his composure. 

However, it remained to be seen if that was actually a good thing.

He let out a furious roar, stomping his foot down, the resulting shockwave intended to throw anyone left too close to him back. Alto would have been included, but in a flash he managed to throw himself clear, sliding to a stop on his knee at a safe distance... but not really. The huge man turned his head and his enraged bellow increased tenfold in decibel as his roar began to tear at the fabric of reality again, sweeping his gaze across the group, aiming to batter them all back and throw them to the ground.

He balled his hands into fists as his roar ceased, and in one mighty flex both his shoulders popped and crunched back into place.

"You had your chance to escape as witnesses. Now... none of you will leave alive..." Once more. He could do it at least once more, if only a little. The burning lightning crackled around his fists again. He wouldn't just pummel them -- he'd erase them. He Leapt forward with inhuman force and speed, aiming to land upon Bak and Dart wherever they'd ended up and turn them to [i]dust[/i].

[center][color=CFD3C6][img]https://i.imgur.com/QxwohJt.png[/img][/color][/center]

Rurik's head was spinning. He'd been guiding Yuuto away when suddenly the crazy man had started screaming at them and the two had been knocked over. It seemed they'd been on the edge of whatever attack had been launched, but even so it had been enough to knock the two unsteady and unsuspecting boys to the ground.

Rurik opened his eyes and found himself face-to-face and on top of Yuuto.

[color=CFD3C6]"Um, uh, don't worry, I'd buy you dinner first if I was gonna do something,"[/color] Rurik muttered and pushed himself off of Yuuto. He began to do his best to haul him back up again only to overhear the cultist's threat. He looked back and didn't like what he saw brewing. No one seemed to be in position to intercept him -- not in time.

Except... maybe...

[color=CFD3C6]"This is gonna suck, but you gotta get out of here. See if you can find Clara again!"[/color] Rurik said and suddenly pressed his hand to Yuuto's back. Unfortunately he didn't have a large backpack to protect him like Bak had. Suddenly he'd have felt a massive force propel him clean to the edge of the arena, near one of the exits that fortunately was only half caved in rather than entirely. It would aggravate the hell out of his existing injuries but probably not cause any new ones... Or at least nothing major.

And at least he was well clear of the crossfire by now.

Rurik hoped he could move well enough to find his way back to Clara before too long. Any beholders that had been in the area had almost certainly been killed off by now. If not by Alto then by the massive explosion that had smashed the arena. 

And then Rurik saw the big man dig his heel in. Maybe... maybe maybe maybe.

In a burst, Rurik shot back in. He skidded to a halt in front of Bak and David, shield already deploying but it was only at that moment that he realized what he was going to be trying to block. His shield might as well have been an umbrella before a typhoon.

[color=CFD3C6][i]"Oh... fuck."[/i][/color] Why did he keep trying to play hero today? He had a feeling this time it'd cost him more than an arm and his dignity...